The present invention relates generally to database constructing apparatus for building or constructing a music information database which permits a search therethrough for desired music information, and more particularly to an improved database constructing apparatus and method for constructing a database which allows a user to search therethrough for desired music information using impression words representing impressions of a music piece.
In recent years, it has been a common practice to use a music-information providing site on the Internet to acquire audio data that are to be used for music reproduction on a music playback or reproduction device, automatic performance data (MIDI data) that are to be used for an automatic performance on an electronic musical instrument or the like, or music piece data, such as musical score data. Generally, such music-information providing sites are provided with a search function for users to search for music information corresponding to their desired music piece data. The search function is a function for receiving a search condition entered by a user to specify a desired item of music information and extracting all items of music information, corresponding to the entered search condition, from the database having stored therein among a multiplicity of items of music information stored in the database. Generally, the title, artist's names (e.g., singer's names), etc. of the user-desired music piece are used as the search condition. In the music information databases having the search function using titles and/or artist's names of user-desired music pieces as a search condition, there are registered, for a plurality of music pieces, music information where the titles and artist's names of the music pieces are associated with any music information corresponding to a user-entered search condition (at least one of the music title and artist's name) can be extracted from the database. The music information thus extracted is presented to the user as a search result based on the user-entered search condition. The aforementioned music information search scheme, which uses titles and/or artist's names of user-desired music pieces as a search condition, is designed to extract particular music pieces of titles corresponding to the user-entered search condition or music items of particular artists corresponding to the user-entered search condition.
There has also been known a search scheme which uses, as a search condition, impression words representing a desired music piece and searches for music pieces corresponding to the designated impression words. The “impression words” of a music piece express or represent impressions, such as “cheery” and “solemn”, which the music piece gives a listener. Such a music search scheme using one or more impression words is advantageous in that it can find one or more music pieces matching a user-desired image. To realize the music information search function using one or more impression words, items of music piece information of a plurality of music pieces, in each of which the music piece and impression words representing the music pieces are associated with each other, are pre-registered in the music information database; in this way, all music pieces matching impression words, designated as a search condition, can be searched for and extracted from the music information database, as disclosed in for example Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2003-108563.
In order to construct a database capable of music information searches using impression words, it is necessary to define in advance impression words representing a multiplicity of music pieces. According to the prior art technique disclosed in the above-mentioned No. 2003-108563 publication, a database is constructed generally in the following manner. (1) Subjects (i.e., human subjects) are caused to listen to music pieces to be stored into the database, (2) the human subjects are asked to select impression words, which the subjects consider suitable to express the music pieces they have listened to, and (3) the results of the impression word selection by the human subjects are analyzed and the music pieces and the selected impression words are registered in association with each other, to thereby construct the database.
However, with the prior art technique disclosed in the above-mentioned No. 2003-108563, which requires the human subjects to listen to music pieces and select impression words from a list of impression words in advance; thus, if information of an enormous number of music pieces is to be stored into the database, heavy burdens tend to be imposed on the human subjects, which would present the inconvenience that costs, such as labor costs, become enormous. For example, if information of 10,000 music pieces is to be stored into the database, the human subjects have to be asked to listen to the 10,000 music pieces, and constructing the database in this manner is extremely impractical. Further, each time the contents of the database are to be updated (e.g., a new music piece is to be added or search condition is to be added for an already-registered music piece), a human subject has to be asked to listen to and evaluate the music piece, so that there would be encountered the inconvenience that registering music pieces newly presented to the public (or published) on a daily basis tends to be extremely cumbersome and troublesome.